By David Morse, 19 September 2023
A chance encounter with navigation officers during ship visits as part of the recent Halifax Fleet week,
brought this old adage back to mind. Apart from the expected disparaging remarks about “old-timers”
and reliance on paper charts, there was a surprising blind spot about issues surrounding the exclusive
use of electronic navigation systems and then the following week there was the news of the Ocean
Explorer aground off Greenland – navigation error?
Navies are required to operate wherever sent – regardless of the state of accurate charting in the
region; regardless of the accuracy of the space-based systems or their availability in times of conflict.
Accounts of GPS spoofing and jamming in the current Ukrainian conflict should be carefully examined.
A chance encounter and a limited data set perhaps, but the “on-line” generation of sailors might find
this well researched examination of electronic navigation worthwhile
reading: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/David-
Brcic/publication/352439229_Overreliance_on_ECDIS_Technology_A_Challenge_for_Safe_Navigation/li
nks/60c9a55c458515dcee930ff6/Overreliance-on-ECDIS-Technology-A-Challenge-for-Safe-
Navigation.pdf?origin=publication_detail
One thought on “On Track Visually?”
Hello David. Your http// just leads you to a a directory of people in Alphabetical format? I can tell you that the RCN has gone paperless for navigation as well which are recorded and kept electronically. However when entering and leaving harbour or going to anchor anywhere in the world, we still use the old-school paper format as a back-up for safety to the electronic format including ship’s position ‘fixes’ on charts as well using navigation radars. We also use visual fixes using gyros and charts as another ‘back-up to the Back-up’ which are also kept in the event of any incident. Although the ECDIS is extremely accurate, it is not perfect or is only as perfect as what you put into it by human means. Cheers!